The Perfect Shirt
“You may take one small suitcase with essentials. Nothing else will be allowed on the train.”
Terror gripped the townspeople as they were ordered by Nazi soldiers to assemble in the town square within two hours for “relocation.” They did not know that as the moment they would step off the trains, everything they brought with them would be taken away. Meanwhile, they busied themselves with gathering food, basic clothing, sweaters and toiletries.
In the midst of the chaos, young Dovid’s father took him aside and made a surprising request: “Please iron an extra shirt for me to pack.” While it seemed to be a totally nonsensical request under the circumstances, this is what his father wanted, so Dovid got to work. After a short while, he presented the shirt to his father, proud of his handiwork. How surprised he was to be told, “Dovid, my son, I can see that you tried your best, but you missed some creases. Please iron them out.”
Dovid was stunned. “Tatte,” he questioned, “why is it so important that this shirt be perfectly pressed? Everyone else is busy collecting just what they’ll need to survive!”
Dovid’s father answered with tears in his eyes. “My son, I am perfectly aware of what’s going on. I don’t need a perfectly pressed shirt. I don’t even know how long we’ll be allowed to hold on to these items we’re packing.
“Nothing is certain now – except for one thing: the zechus of every mitzvah we do remains ours forever; no one can take it away from us. And kibbud av v’eim is a very great mitzvah. I don’t know if we’ll remain together once we get off the train, so I’m trying to give you the zechus of kibbud av v’eim now by asking you to do things for me. It’s not the shirt I need. I need you to have the mitzvah of doing something for me.”
Dovid was astounded. At a time of great fear and uncertainty, his father was focused on giving him opportunities to earn zechuyos!
When the war was over, Dovid was the only survivor of his town. While only Hashem knows why he was chosen to survive, Dovid thought perhaps it was the merit he had earned through his father’s perfectly pressed shirt.
(Rabbi Shimon Finkelman, My Parents and Me, Artscroll Publications, pages 47-49)
When we honor our parents, we are the greatest beneficiaries!
Take This Home
Kibbud av v’eim – what a precious mitzvah! Whether your parents live nearby or far away, do something extra to honor them today. If they are no longer alive, learn something or do a mitzvah l’zecher nishmasam.
In Short
During his travels back and forth to yeshiva, Ze’iri would deposit his money with a woman who ran an inn. One day he returned to retrieve his money, only to find that the woman had passed away. Not knowing where she had hidden his money, he went to the cemetery, located her grave, and asked her where he could find the money.
Amazingly, the woman answered him, and not only that, she asked Ze’iri to tell her mother to send along her mirror and eye makeup with a woman who was going to die the next day (Berachos 18b). What could this woman possibly need these items for in the Next World?
We learn from here that the things with which we busy ourselves in this world actually cling to our neshamos and become a part of them – forever! Let us think long and hard about how we occupy ourselves, because the choices we make here are shaping our eternity!
It Happened to Me!
My Olam Haba Moment
I did some reframing this week. It had nothing to do with the pictures in my house, but everything to do with building myself as a ben Olam Haba. I was looking forward to a quiet Shabbos, when my in-laws called to ask if we could host them. They require a lot of attention. What’s more, their visit would mean moving my boys out of their room and doing a major cleanup to make the room presentable. I knew I couldn’t refuse them, but I was feeling resentful about the situation. I forced myself to focus on what I was doing and reassessed: Hashem loves me and was therefore handing me a golden opportunity to do kibbud av v’eim and chessed. I was able to prepare for my in-laws’ visit and welcome them in a much more positive frame of mind.
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